Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
With New Year’s resolutions up and rolling, many of us are bringing on gym memberships, improving language skills, taking up new hobbies, getting into self-care and mindfulness, spending more time with family members, and basically, trying hard to be a better version of ourselves.
Meanwhile, our mental muscle is often forgotten and just as we give our bodies nutrients, so do we need to feed our brains with good stuff. So please, dear readers, stop whatever you’re doing. This is an invitation to a workout for your brain cells.
Today, we have a heavyweight treat for them, a brand new collection of incredible Today I Learned facts that range from miscellaneous ones perfect for trivia and mind-bending ones that may totally change your perspective of things. Scroll down below, upvote your favorite facts and be sure to check out our previous posts with Today I Learned goodness here, here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL about Mary Ellen Pleasant, a black woman in the 1800s who amassed a fortune by eavesdropping on investors while working as a domestic
Pearl 3 years ago
"Hailed as the mother of civil rights in California, Mary Ellen Pleasant was a self-made millionaire and leading abolitionist during the Gold-Rush era." Source: ACLU
Load More Replies...
Maria Hermida 3 years ago
Probably the investors she worked for thought she was too stupid to understand what they were talking about, so they spoke freely about plans and investments as if she weren't there.
tuzdayschild 3 years ago
She funded John Brown's abolitionist efforts, even came back to the Ease Coast for a while to help. Drunk History, a goldmine of information.
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago (edited)
Maybe I should get a job as a cleaner at an investment firm.
RELATED:
#2
TIL a bridge in Ireland that was designed to swing open for ships couldn't be opened for four years because someone lost the remote control
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 3 years ago
Imagine one person at home going: "Honey, what does this button do?" while elsewhere hundreds of people panic at the bridge randomly swinging on its own.
GoddessOdd 3 years ago
I have a light switch in my house that we've never been able to figure out... it's wired, but nothing happens when I flip the switch... it's been that way for 30 years. I like to think that somewhere close by, there is a homeowner thinking their house is haunted because there is a light that has been flicking on and off for 30 years.
Load More Replies...
Jo Johannsen 3 years ago
The freaking bridge was operated by a freaking remote control and they didn't have a dozen freaking spares locked up in the safe??? With batteries???
#3
TIL outraged Egyptians had once lynched a Roman for killing a cat.
Maria Hermida 3 years ago
Good idea. People would start to respect animals if we did that these days.
I love the 80’s 3 years ago
They may not respect them but they may stop hurting them. Whatever it takes.
Load More Replies...
#4
TIL that Betty White holds the Guinness World Record for longest TV career by an entertainer, with credits spanning 80 years (1939 to 2019)
Mazer 3 years ago
$70k was donated to the San Diego zoo in her name for her 100th birthday, stunning Zoo officials. That woman had more class in her little finger than most of her contemporaries. RIP Betty, I know there are hundreds of animals on the other side of the rainbow bridge waiting.
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
As for me, I donated to Alley Cat Allies on her 100th birthday.
Load More Replies...
Jo Choto 3 years ago
I think she should hold the record for being the most universally loved celebrity of all time.
GoddessOdd 3 years ago (edited)
She has some close competition though. George Burns immediately springs to mind, but Betty was a famous philanthropist... George was just sweet! :)
Load More Replies...
Erika 3 years ago
Yeah, had to look up her filmography, she hasn’t done anything after 2019
Load More Replies...
Bella, Your Kitty-Loving Queen 3 years ago
It's so sad tho she was about to turn 100 :( Rest in peace we all love you!
#5
TIL: Carrie, Stephen King's first novel that launched his career, was rescued from the trash can after his wife Tabatha removed the crumpled up pages, read them and told her husband she wanted to know the rest of the story
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
That picture TOTALLY represent everything about the 70's family life [every kid's haircut]
Elmie Pumpkinbush 3 years ago
Behind (nearly) every man there is a supportive woman.
Load More Replies...
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Carrie one of his best! And the movie was pretty good. It still scares the s**t out of me when that arm come through the dirt!
Bunny Lady 3 years ago (edited)
Yes. I knew this. Tabitha has been a rock to him throughout their marriage.
#6
TIL In 1993 a French man driving a Citroen car in a remote area of the Moroccan desert had a breakdown and became stranded. To survive he tore down the car, built a motorcycle from the parts, and rode it back to civilization. When he arrived he was ticketed for operating an illegal vehicle.
Laura Jackson 3 years ago
I would have immediately then been arrested for assault on an officer.
C. Wade 3 years ago
Yeah, exactly! Motherf*cker, I just performed an engineering marvel and saved my own life in the process, you can take that ticket and stick it so far up your ass you'll taste the paper.
Load More Replies...
karl briggs 3 years ago
He should have then rebuilt it in to a helicopter and flown away before he could get given the ticket!
Marco Conti 3 years ago (edited)
I used to own a car like that once (a 2CV if I recall). I am not surprised he could do that. They are very minimalistic, yet they have a very advanced and clever suspension system. I also had a Renault 4 for many years. For a bit I drove it without a clutch and pulling the throttle cable through the firewall. The starter also went, but for that the R4 has a front crank that starts the car. Even in the late 70s I got a lot of strange looks when I dismounted the car, run to the front, cranked it and got back inside. Can't do that with modern cars.
Devil's Advocate 3 years ago
I'm intrigued as to what sort of breakdown left the car useless (a 2CV at that!), but the engine fine to make a motorcycle!
Ghosts 3 years ago
https://drivetribe.com/p/man-turned-a-car-into-a-motorbike-Q_B8ZIECT12jrEApAjjaCw?iid=HWT-c2uzRVi_ToM-jDFssA
Load More Replies... John Smith 3 years ago
Mythbusters recreated this, I think they marked it as being difficult but plausible.
#7
TIL Queen Elizabeth II has reigned longer than her father, uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather combined
ADHORTATOR 3 years ago
I wish her all the best, but I am not a fan of monarchy
Load More Replies...
Grumble O'Pug 3 years ago
Well, they were all pretty up there when they became Kings. Had Edward VIII not abdicated, she’d be an older woman ascending the monarchy, too. (Assuming he remained married to Wallis and remained childless)
Seán Baron 3 years ago
Wallis was unable to have children. She had two abortions. And they weren't problem free in those days
Load More Replies...
Vicky Z 3 years ago
To be fair her uncle wasn't a king for very long and her father died quite young
Jo Morris 3 years ago
Lucky her great-great-grandmother wasn't included. She reigned for 63 years & 7 months. Queen Elizabeth's father died at age 56, having reigned for 16 years. And of course his brother, who abdicated the throne, reigned for only 11 months. It was his abdication which is said to have contributed to King George VI's early death.
Laura Mende (Human) 3 years ago
And he being a chain smoker is of no interest? George VI smoked that heavy, he hardly had lungs at the end of his live.
Load More Replies...
Mickie Shea 3 years ago
Until recently Kings and Queens did not rule for long. There was always someone(s) waiting to be thorned.
#8
TIL the British Hedgehog Preservation Society won a campaign in 2006 to force McDonalds to redesign their McFlurry cups due to hedgehogs repeatedly getting stuck in them and dying.
Got Myself 4 Dwarves 3 years ago
Why can't people just put their rubbish in the bins like decent human beings? I absolutely detest people throwing their rubbish wherever they choose, it's so selfish and lazy
Tenacious Squirrel 3 years ago
I totally agree. However it's also possible some litter finds its way in to the environment in other ways - for example, when it's been windy and stormy I find loads of litter blown out of bins. So it's important for any rubbish to be as eco friendly as possible (ideally not plastic, and totally compostable, but that's a whole big thing).
Load More Replies... 
RandomHumanBean 3 years ago
wait theres such a thing as the British Hedgehog Preservation Society?? why havent i heard about this yet?
GoddessOdd 3 years ago
McDonald's has a very grim environmental legacy... remember the polystyrene clam shell sandwich containers? One state banned them, I think it was New Hampshire, and McD went to the mat and spent millions of dollars fighting to keep them, because they were something like 1.3 cents cheaper than the cardboard boxes. They vowed to fight state by state if necessary, but I guess they finally quit when they kept losing in the courts and in public opinion.
#9
TIL that owls cannot move their eyes. This is because their eyes are not balls, but cylinders that are held in place by bones called sclerotic rings. This is also the reason that owls have evolved to be able to rotate their head 270 degrees left and right, and 90 degrees up and down.
Buren 3 years ago
Now I am deciding if I want to exchange my eyeballs for cylinder eyes and 270 degree head rotating ability
Auntriarch 3 years ago (edited)
And a killer stare? Hell yeah! But not if I have to catch my own voles
Load More Replies...
Paul Davis 3 years ago
A lot of other birds must be like that because they seem to spend a lot of energy on moving their heads to look at things.
Daniel Marsh 3 years ago
Among vertebrates, only mammals and crocodilians have eyeballs and not sclerotic rings.
#10
TIL that in 1945, General George S Patton, upon the liberation of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany, forced 1,000 local citizens to tour the camp to witness firsthand the atrocities that had taken place within.
Caro Caro 3 years ago (edited)
After Patton toured the camp, he ordered the mayor of Weimar to bring 1,000 citizens to Buchenwald; these were to be predominantly men of military age from the middle and upper classes. The Germans had to walk 25 kilometres (16 mi) roundtrip under armed American guard and were shown the crematorium and other evidence of Nazi atrocities. The Americans wanted to ensure that the German people would take responsibility for Nazi crimes, instead of dismissing them as atrocity propaganda. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower also invited two groups of Americans to tour the camp in mid-April 1945; journalists and editors from some of the principal U.S. publications, and then a dozen members of the Congress from both the House and the Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_concentration_camp
Louise B 3 years ago
Thank you for giving more detail and context. It's tragic that these facts get forgotten as that generation dwindles away. It's so important for everyone who follows to remember.
Load More Replies...
Rez Fidel 3 years ago
My grandfather on my mothers side survived Buchenwald and other camps and lived long enough to tell me about it. The atrocities and the pure terror the people suffered there... I just wanted to kill all fascist Nazi scum. Oh...and one of them was my fathers Dad. He worked for Albert Speer as chief engineer.. Speer even visited my Grandfather in the 80ies when he was released from prison. My parents were not amused...
J. Normal 3 years ago
I still want to beat the crap out of these new fascist "Nazi" wannabes.
Load More Replies...
Maryanna Baldridge 3 years ago
My grandfather was with Patton when this happened. It traumatized him. As he was walking around he found photos of the victims after their deaths. He brought them home to prove to others just how horrific it was. He has those photos to this day. I have seen them and they are the worst thing I have ever seen in my entire life. He is almost 97 and still educating others.
Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago
And in 2016 Trump’s MAGA Nazis marched in the US capital chanting “the Jews will not replace us”
François Carré 3 years ago
I saw a "6MWNE" T-shirt on one of these assholes. Disgusting.
Load More Replies... Laura Mende (Human) 3 years ago
The mayor of Weimar, the town beneath Buchenwald, hanged himself I heared. Could be another town.
Marie Dobbs Brasseit 3 years ago
Thank God General Eisenhower knew the ways of human nature and made sure we could not deny what had happened! May we never give in to those who want to ‘remove’ history!
Jaybird3939 3 years ago
There is also a picture of former German soldiers in a theater being shown what happened in the concentration camps and what they were actually fighting for (Hitler's perfect society). Many got sick or passed out.
#11
TIL that in Churchill, Canada, locals keep their car doors unlocked in order to provide other residents a quick escape, should they encounter a polar bear
Alicia Miller 3 years ago (edited)
Reminds me of the bear attack safety rhyme: If it's black, fight back. If it's brown, lie down. If it's white, say goodnight.
Laura Mende (Human) 3 years ago
Also common in Russia. There it is because of the freezing temperatures though.
Mazer 3 years ago
Considered a marine mammal due to their spending so much time in and around the oceans. Their fur is white but their skin is dark in color allowing their bodies to absorb more heat.
GoddessOdd 3 years ago
In Florida we're told to keep our cars locked at all times, even in our garages, to prevent children from climbing in and dying in there.
Mickie Shea 3 years ago
Many bear country residents will not only leave car doors open, they'll leave their home doors open. Better robbed by neighbor than eat'n. If it is alive polar bears will think it's food.
Masen Silas 3 years ago
In America wed wind up locking our car, bear baiting it, and putting the poor guy on Youtube 💁♂️
#12
TIL in the mid 1890s, Mary Whiton Caulkins completed all requirements towards a PhD in Psychology, but Harvard University refused to award her that degree because she was a woman.
Ozacoter 3 years ago
Absolutely. Sadly many have not learned anything and still hate women. I love when misoginistic people defend that some degrees are "naturally feminine", like medicine, philosophy and psychology when a few decades ago women wherent even acepted in those fields. Gender roles are artificial and harmful.
Load More Replies... Otter 3 years ago (edited)
Writer and scholar Dorothy L. Sayers completed an Oxford degree in languages and literature and was awarded a "first" in 1915, but like all her female classmates she was not awarded a degree, because Oxford did not give degrees to women at that time. Sayers was retroactively given a degree when the university changed its policy in 1920... not that long ago.
Marcellus II 3 years ago (edited)
Oh, Harvard you say, that institution focused on excellence? 50years after the above, they were struggling to get the proportion of Jewish students down, because you know they are too serious and study too hard; they don't do extracurriculars like sports and make the WASPs look bad. So Harvard wanted to cap Jews at 15%, and argued it was a favour to them --- because if the proportion stayed around 30% or grew further then everybody else would get very very antisemitic, while at 15% they would ignore them (eh? Nazi germany had a tiny percentage jews yet that didn't work out, did it?). E.g. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-ivy-leagues-history-of-discriminating-against-jews-2014-12 (Yes, rest of Ivy League was the same).
Vorknkx 3 years ago
When people romanticize the past, they should always be aware that such things were normal back then...
BusLady 3 years ago
Google Frances Glessner Lee. She was a brilliant woman who was unable to get a degree but accomplished much. Her brother received a degree from Harvard but she could not attend because she was a woman.
Vlacas12 3 years ago
Yes, she was a forensic scientist, who recreated crime scenes at doll-level for students to study cases. Her dollhouses are still used today.
Load More Replies...
#13
TIL that according to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of U.S. adults lack proficiency in literacy, reading below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level.
GoddessOdd 3 years ago
I remember reading that Danger Cheeto communicated on a third grade level, so makes sense.
Load More Replies...
Mazer 3 years ago
Thank you Republicans, who would prefer an illiterate, overworked, sick population over the opposite.
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
Because such a population is easy to bamboozle.
Load More Replies...
renee brack 3 years ago
54%...? Wow. Democracy relies on 1 vote per citizen. Each citizen needs to be able to read the ballot papers. If the USA is predominately illiterate, what - oh I can't continue this post it's too grim.
Beck 3 years ago
They are not saying we can't read. I guess just saying we do not have a large vocabulary? Every single person I know over the age of 7 or so can read.
Load More Replies... 
C. Wade 3 years ago (edited)
Experienced this 1st hand with a group of seemingly educated American acquaintances who couldn't follow a subtitle on a Korean movie.
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
Some of us read, some of us were behind the ag barn, diddling a goat.
Steve 3 years ago
It would be interesting to see the age breakdown of that - which age group contributed most to that stat? Perhaps 18-30yrs, 31-50, 51-70, 71+ ?
Andrea Purzycki 3 years ago
Also, are they including people who speak English as their first language and those who speak English as a second language?
Load More Replies...
Kathy Richardson 3 years ago
It is not getting any better either. I worked in a convenience store that was a block away from a high school so students came in a lot. I was disgusted by the lack of basic math knowledge in these kids, and I mean basic; addition, subtraction, money counting, etc.. I have to assume their reading levels were not much higher.
#14
TIL: The inventor of shopping carts, Sylvan Goldman, had to hire "decoy shoppers" to wheel the carts around stores and demonstrate their convenience, due to not catching on initially.
Buren 3 years ago
I suppose those decoy shoppers didn't use the squeaky ones that insisted on turning the opposite direction you want to go, didn't get their finger slammed or the back of the heel scraped
RoksieK 3 years ago
I feel like it still hasn't caught on (at least for me) because I always go into the store empty-handed and then end up loading my hands up with groceries up to my eyeballs 😂 and then curse at myself for not taking a shopping cart
Troux 3 years ago
I've gotten into the habit of using my reusable bags instead of a cart while shopping, to prevent me from overbuying. I've gotten the occasional stare from people who think I'm stealing in broad daylight, but it's been useful!
Load More Replies... 
Devil's Advocate 3 years ago (edited)
Doesn't beat the person who, when they introduced potatoes to France, had to guard the royal fields day and night except for one day a week so the peasants would think they were stealing them so wanted them. Until then, they were refusing to eat them despite famine.
François Carré 3 years ago
While the wall on this picture made the cover of the famous Pink Floyd album and thus instantly started up a great career.
#15
TIL that octopuses have copper-based blood rather than iron-based blood…which makes their blood blue in color. (Incidentally, they also have three hearts to pump that blood.)
Bonniebluebutler 3 years ago
There's a fabulous documentary running on Netflix now called "Teacher Octopus". Absolutely stunning cinematography and a touching true story about a South African man and a female octopus. And how they learned from each other.
Betsy Novack 3 years ago
Loved that movie! After working with kids that don't communicate like everybody else, this movie really made me believe we miss so many moments because we don't learn to hear and communicate on a level that is so different. Imagine if people would approach each other with this kind of curiosity and trust building.
Load More Replies... GoddessOdd 3 years ago
Octopi are incredibly smart and should be treated much better by humans... but then almost every animal should be treated better by humans.
TrickQuestion 3 years ago
Aliens. The closest thing we have on earth to actual aliens. I love them so much.
Tami 3 years ago
Yeah, so then why is Spock's blood green and not blue? Maybe because he's half human (red) and half vulcan (blue)? But no, everything says that all Vulcans have green blood. Hmmm, fascinating...
Load More Replies...
Olga Dremina 3 years ago
Octopuses have blue blood, octopuses are cephalopods, aristocrats have blue blood, that means aristocrats are cephalopods, so aristocrats are not people. Squid erad demonstrandum!
#16
TIL dolphins sleep with one eye open. Because they have to periodically go up for air and also be aware of predators, they are able to rest only half of their brain at a time and stay always somewhat conscious.
Marnie 3 years ago
I learned that when I was 19. I was going through a weird phase and I decided I would try it. So, I actually tried to sleep with half my brain and basically stay awake forever. I lasted about 2 1/2 days and my Mom thought I'd lost my mind and the cat refused to sleep in the bed with me and the dog edged away from me and the TV was playing some REALLY weird stuff. Then I went to sleep. End of story.
Hannah Edwards 3 years ago
I have to rest half my brain at a time, due to my husband’s ten nightly trips to the loo.
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 3 years ago
I have seen that happen. They sort of lie on one side and swim slowly in circles. Sometimes, they switch direction as the other side of the brain is sleeping...
#17
TIL About the "murder bottle". Many Victorian mothers would use a self feeding bottle to give their babies milk instead of breastfeeding. These bottles were made of earthenware & glass & were incredibly hard to clean which caused severe bacteria build up & caused the deaths of thousands of babies.
Mazer 3 years ago
The Victorian household was a hell of a dangerous place to be. Arsenic, asbestos, lead, etc.. it’s amazing anyone survived
Hannah Edwards 3 years ago
That’s without adding cholera, typhoid and other diseases to the mix.
Load More Replies...
Jo Choto 3 years ago
The associations between "lower class" and breastfeeding has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of babies. Now it's an issue in countries where there is poverty and no access to clean water. The mothers are letting their milk dry up, giving the baby the "superior" formula, which they can only mix with unclean water, and then they can't afford to get more. When I lived in Zimbabwe, a group of us petitioned the government to ban formula being given to women in the maternity units. Saved thousands of baby lives.
Izzy Curer 3 years ago (edited)
I recommend 'Infant Mortality, A Social Problem' by Sir George Newman (1906) if you want to know more about why kids in the Victorian used to die so much more often. It's free on Archive.org. Morbid, yes, but still scarily relevant. It's history that shouldn't be forgotten. The short answer: working class women were overworked with not enough maternity leave.
Lily Mae Kitty 3 years ago
20-30% of infants died in the first year of life during the late Victorian era, in small part, due to these, but mostly other things.
RoseAnne Hutchence 3 years ago
I'm betting those who survived had extremely robust immune systems!
#18
TIL of the Lodz Ghetto, where at one point 20000 'useless eaters', mainly children under 10, were rounded up and taken away from their families to be exterminated. Many parents committed suicide.
Caro Caro 3 years ago (edited)
This is so sad an depressing. The ghetto in Lodz, Poland’s second largest city and major industrial center, was established on April 30, 1940. It was the second largest ghetto in the German-occupied areas and the one that was most severely insulated from its surroundings and from other ghettos. Some 164,000 Jews were interned there, to whom were added tens of thousands of Jews from the district, other Jews from the Reich, and also Sinti and Roma. The ghetto, although intended to be a temporary transit facility, lasted for more than four years after the interests of local Nazis led to a decision to exploit the Jewish labor force. In the spring of 1940, the Lodz ghetto was sealed from the rest of the world by a wooden fence surrounded by additional barbed-wire fences. The Jews were packed into the ghetto with no electricity or water. Disease and starvation rapidly diminished their numbers. https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about/ghettos/lodz.html
Rez Fidel 3 years ago (edited)
1.5 Million Kids under the age of 10 were murdered by the Nazis ... 1.5 MILLION kids! I am so f*****g angry and heartbroken everytime I remember this...
Belandriel 3 years ago
It always infuriates me how few of the Nazis were actually held accountable for their crimes. I must not think about it too much...
Load More Replies...
HarriMissesScotland 3 years ago
And Marjorie Taylor Green comparing mask wearing to the Holocaust. She said that she visited Dachau.And it didn't bother her. She is a "Rising Star for the Republicans" https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-marjorie-taylor-greene-social-media-statements-20210204-cihvw64f5vdodm7ni72svunnui-story.html
JustAnother Soul 3 years ago
How is it that we, human beings, can be capable of being so shamefully wicked to one another?
Tamra Stiffler 3 years ago
I don't know. It's mind boggling to think about things like this. I just can't wrap my head around it and it breaks my heart.
Load More Replies... Bored Bunny 3 years ago
I was able to research and locate the work papers and accompanying photograph of my father's first cousin who was in the Lodz Ghetto. He was killed at the Chelmno Extermination camp shortly before his 14th birthday. The expression of terror on his face in that photograph haunts me.
Caro Caro 3 years ago
Bloody hell that must hurt so much. I can imagine that picture haunting you.
Load More Replies...
#19
TIL of Titanic survivor Frankie Goldsmith. His father died during the sinking, and when he and his mother arrived in America they settled in Detroit near Navin Field (Tiger Stadium). He never attended a game due to the cheers of the crowd reminding him of the cries of the dying people in the water.
Jessica Gunn 3 years ago
When I saw this on Reddit, I read the article. This poor guy was absolutely traumatized (of course), explaining that nothing was as frightening or awful as hearing all the screams and moans and labored breathing of the people in the waters while he (and his mother) sat in a lifeboat in the total darkness. He explained that he listened to those people until the screams slowly dwindled into silence. It sounded so much like the screams from the stadium that he couldn't handle it and moved away as soon as he was old enough. They were on the boat with his father and uncle as well, and when he was rescued on the Carpathia, he was told that his father was probably also rescued and would probably find him later. He wasn't and he didn't...
Louloubelle 3 years ago
I can't imagine a child coming out of this with any type of sanity in tact.
Load More Replies...
bxttery_bxby 3 years ago
When we went to the Titanic museum, the person I got was Gladys Cherry, who survived. My brother got a little boy who did not. It was a really crazy-cool experience. I had shivers the whole time.
Lovin' Life 3 years ago
Heartbreaking! I cannot imagine the traumatic stress this Man has lived through.
#20
TIL about Ismail al-jazari wrote the “Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices” where he described 50 mechanical devices along with instructions on creating them. He has been described as the father of robotics and modern day engineering.
Caro Caro 3 years ago
1136-.1206. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_al-Jazari
Load More Replies... Ozacoter 3 years ago
It is a proven fact. The most advanced countries in human rights and technology are always the ones to be less ruled by religion. It used to be Al Andalus and other arabian states, now it is western europe and Australia
Load More Replies...
Xottel 3 years ago
From Wkipedia: Badīʿ az-Zaman Abu l-ʿIzz ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ar-Razāz al-Jazarī (1136–1206, Arabic: بديع الزمان أَبُ اَلْعِزِ إبْنُ إسْماعِيلِ إبْنُ الرِّزاز الجزري,), IPA: [ældʒæzæriː]) was a Muslim polymath: a scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, artisan, artist and mathematician from Artuqid Dynasty of Jazira in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq).
GoddessOdd 3 years ago
There is a very good book 'Years of Rice and Salt' exploring what would have happened if the plague had killed 99% of the European population instead of the actual 33%. In that case, it supposes that Muslim culture would have shaped the world in a much different way. Good read.
Jacob Ross 3 years ago
Al-Jaziri was absolutely brilliant. One of his simplest inventions was the camshaft. That is basically a wobbly-looking shaft. Irregularly spaced protrusions allow you to activate different mechanisms at different times. Without cams and camshafts we would not have cars, robots and most anything else.
#21
TIL about Project 100k, where LBJ and Sec of Def Robert MacNamara decided to lower the mental and medical standards to recruit more soldiers to fight in Vietnam. These soldiers died at ~3x the normal rate.
Joe Reaves 3 years ago
Not only that but they claimed the project would improve the lives of those recruits and they would all be taught a skill. They weren't taught anything useful and those that survived went on to have significantly worse life outcomes (mentally, financially etc) than people of similar mental levels that hadn't served.
Frankenfrog 3 years ago
Wait, so you mean to tell us that the US government would exploit the poor and uneducated for its own gain?? I'm SHOCKED!!! 0____________0
Serial pacifist 3 years ago
They lowered the mental standards?! I wonder what mental standards the two met to make such decisions.
#22
TIL that in 1670, against a judge's instructions, a jury refused to find two men guilty. The judge held the jury in contempt; locked them up overnight without food, water or heat; and fined them. On appeal, the Chief Justice ruled that a jury could not be punished for returning the wrong verdict.
Concept-Peter Roosdorp 3 years ago
Why have 12 people with no legal training, weigh in at all?
Load More Replies...
Oopsydaisy 3 years ago
It's a shame that the history of the common law system in former British colonies is not taught in school. This incident was a very important step on the road to an independent jury system. This is not indicative of how bad the law is. This is indicative of how good our system of law is, or can be. We learnt from this.
Mazer 3 years ago
The injustices of the judicial system. It never ends. Again people in power abusing their powers. Arrrrrgh
Oopsydaisy 3 years ago
This was an important step in the development of the jury system and the trial system.
Load More Replies... Itstheoneandonlydave 3 years ago
A jury may not always return the right answer. In Britain a trial was held without one as the first trial of the defendant his fellow gang members threatened the whole jury and their families. Therefore a special exemption was made. Fun useless fact
Karen Grace 3 years ago
That's what I was thinking. If the judge is biased against the defendant then he may well disagree with the jury. That doesn't mean the judge is right and the jury is wrong.
Load More Replies...
Stephanie Keith 3 years ago
Now a days they will just keep trying the case until they get the verdict they want. So many corrupt people getting away with whatever. It's so wrong.
#23
TIL In 1941, almost 10% of all recruits for the US military were rejected because they did not have 6 opposing teeth on their upper and lower jaws. US dental health was so poor before WWII that it was the leading cause of rejection.
MyOpinionHasBeenServed 3 years ago
Apparently you have to be in perfect health. No genetic conditions, chronic conditions, disorders, missing any body parts. Nada.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Not anymore. My idiot godson is a flat-earther in the US Air Force, ffs. Obviously, he's missing some brain. And I say that with love. Really I do. *sigh*
Load More Replies...
May 3 years ago
In my grandmothers time (in Norway) it was common to get dentures as a confirmation gift (religious ceremony at about age 15). Toothpaste wasn't available, but sweets were, so all their teeth rotted away.
Auntriarch 3 years ago
In Britain of that generation it was a common wedding present to the bride
Load More Replies... T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
That's interesting and all, but I'd much rather learn the story of the soldier with that Silver Star in the picture.
Fred L. 3 years ago
That is Leigh Ann Hester, the first (though not last) female Silver Star recipient of the army since World War II, for combat action in Iraq.
Load More Replies...
BusLady 3 years ago
Your typo gave me my first smell of the day. (*smile)
Load More Replies... Otter 3 years ago
So was lack of access to medical care. As far as I know people just paid out of pocket for medical care, and if you couldn't afford a doctor or a dentist you just put up with being sick, or lost your teeth.
Load More Replies...
Jill Hojnacki 3 years ago
Just FTR, that’s a photo of Leigh Ann Hester wearing the Silver Star she was awarded in 1995 for gallantry during an insurgent ambush on a convoy..
#24
TIL Leonardo Da Vinci saved 13,000+ pages of notes and drawings on anatomy, physiology, engineering, mechanics, geometry, mathematics, bird flight, flying machines, botany, proportions, topology, weaponry, musical instruments, art, and more, all in mirrored shorthand written from right to left.
Mazer 3 years ago (edited)
My auntie was a total genius (too bad I did not inherit any of those genes. The closest I can come is being a wise ass). She could write backwards snd forwards at the same time on two different pieces of paper. She would send my sister and I letters written entirely backwards and alternating words between each paper. Sooooo creative, caring and beautiful. She taught me how to shop to save money, spent countless hours volunteering for the disabled and less fortunate. RIP Aunty Ev.
Jo Choto 3 years ago
It's a very common trait/ability in left-handers, like Da Vinci and myself. For some reason, we have to navigate the world backwards and so writing backwards comes easily. I have been able to do the backwards/forwards/two pens, simultaneously since I was a child. I wonder, was your auntie a leftie?
Load More Replies...
Randolph Croft 3 years ago
He also wrote over the right-to-left by rotating the page 90Deg - basically portrait to landscape - because paper was expensive and not always available.
Karen Grace 3 years ago
I am ambidextrous so I can write with both hands. I can also write upside down and backwards which I sometimes did when explaining something to someone sitting across from me. I think the ADHD helps with that too because we see things differently.
Axolotl King 3 years ago
I'm the same way as you with the writing upside down and backwards thing, I'm not ambidextrous though lol. I love writing in fog on a mirror but backwards so it looks like someone inside the mirror wrote it, or writing in fog on car windows backwards so people on the outside can read it.
Load More Replies... Mickie Shea 3 years ago
Toad, his mama said I wish he'd make up his mind. Maybe a good job at the post office.
Sunshine Sunshine 3 years ago
Mirrored from right to left? Basically flip the page and hold it up to light....
#25
TIL that in Norse mythology, Loki got pregnant by a horse, he would then later give birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipner which would become Odin's horse
Luther von Wolfen 3 years ago
Loki was a shapeshifter who also changed genders when it suited him.
Randolph Croft 3 years ago
If you have the desire and opportunity to watch the Marvel Series 'Loki' - at one point a 'variant' of Loki is female.
Load More Replies...
May 3 years ago
The Marvel version of our old Gods has very little in common with the actual mythology. Some of the names are the same, but that's pretty much it.
Vorknkx 3 years ago
The Marvel movies Asgardians aren't really gods, but more like a super-advanced alien race. Their "magic" is just very sophisticated science/technology ;)
Load More Replies...
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
In the actual mythology Loki's main motivation often seemed to be "I'm bored. Let's liven things up with some borderline lethal gags." Plus often he turns out to be the guy with the winning idea when there is some kind of danger. Thor is generally a bit of a fool with anger issues in comparison.
glowworm2 3 years ago
Much like how most Greek mythology begins with "Zeus was feeling horny." I feel like most Norse mythology begins with "Today, Loki decided to be a d**k."
Load More Replies... glowworm2 3 years ago
Yes, Loki basically shapeshifted into a mare in order to distract the horse of a builder in order to keep him from fulfilling his contract to create a fortification for the gods within 3 seasons. The reason was because the builder in question was secretly a giant and one of his requests for payment was the goddess Freya. Also, Loki was partially to blame for this to begin with (as usual) because he allowed the builder to have help from his horse--who was extremely powerful.
Monkey Spunk 3 years ago
Loki had a plethora of weird kids, he was the Norse version of Echidna.
#26
TIL Keanu Reeves was offered the lead role in The Matrix after 5 leading actors in 1990s turned it down.
Libstak 3 years ago
Thats 5 actors totally kicking themselves and a win for cinema goers everywhere.
Karen Grace 3 years ago
Thank goodness they turned it down. Keanu was perfect for the role. It almost felt like it was written with him in mind.
Sunshine Sunshine 3 years ago
And I'm so thankful for that. What a role, what a dude. He deserves everything. As we all do. X
Arctic Fox Lover 3 years ago
Well, I'd say he was the best guy for job, so I think it all fell into place anyhow.
#27
TIL the Great cheese riot of 1766 was a reaction to inflated cheese prices. The mayor tried to restore order but was knocked down by a cheese. The military were called & shots were fired, killing one man. He'd been guarding his cheeses
Caro Caro 3 years ago
HEY, hands off my cheese. The Nottingham cheese riot (also known as The Great Cheese Riot)[1] started on 2 October 1766 at the city's Goose Fair. The riot came at a time of food shortages and rising prices in England. Violence broke out when local citizens intervened to prevent Lincolnshire merchants taking away Nottinghamshire cheeses they had bought at the fair. A warehouse, shops and a cargo boat were looted; and hundreds of cheese wheels were rolled through the streets. The army was deployed when the mayor was unable to restore control. One man was killed and others wounded as soldiers opened fire on the crowds. Order was eventually restored after some days of unrest.
Angela B 3 years ago
Grabs popcorn and sits in comfy chair. More! I want to know more about this Cheese riot! Was there any camembert?
Load More Replies...
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
I would totally riot if anyone tried to deprive me of cheese. If I don't have at least half a dozen varieties at any given time, I start to panic. I'm pretty sure I was a cartoon mouse in a previous life.
Mazer 3 years ago
Annnnnnd more recently it was gasoline and toilet paper. Humans!!! WTF!?!? Really now
J. Normal 3 years ago
At least cheese can keep you alive. Fighting over toilet paper?
Load More Replies...
Layla Corman 3 years ago
Considering the cost of cheese has risen 7.4% in NYS, I wonder if something like this is in our foreseeable future. 🤔🤔🤔
#28
TIL in order to rescue the kids out of the flooded Thailand cave in 2018, rescuers drugged the kids unconscious then cave dove the the unconscious kids over 1km underwater
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Maybe I'm stupid, but how did they keep the mouth pieces in the kids mouths for a 1km swim!
Load More Replies...
Otter 3 years ago
I followed that story intensely, and it ended up being one of those stories that gave me a bit of hope for humanity. The people that planned and carried off the rescue were the best sort of humans, clever and brave and incredibly dedicated to helping others just because they needed help. May we all learn from their example.
Vanta Black 3 years ago
Tomorrow they will learn that Elon "Prick" Musk falsely accused one of the rescuers as being a paedophile. And nothing much happened.
J. Normal 3 years ago
I need to forget the other part of the story. Where a insane billionaire tried to ruin the life of a rescuer, by spreading a lie. Just so he could claim HE saved the kids. I despise em.
Otter 3 years ago
No, you need to remember that part of the story, and repeat it! There are still people who take that shithead Musk seriously, they need to be reminded how petty, nasty, immature, and worthless he was during that incident. He went there and tried to get the rescuers go with some horrible idea of his that would never have worked, and when they went with something that actually saved the lives of the kids, he threw a hissy fit and accused genuinely heroic people of horrible crimes.
Load More Replies... Kirsten Kerkhof 3 years ago
The rescuers also tie-ripped the arms behind their backs and the legs together to prevent the kids from getting stuck. There are interviews with the rescuers on YouTube and it's pretty intense.
chris apgar 3 years ago
If you haven't seen it, watch "The Rescue". A thoughtful and human telling of ingenuity, how groups came together, found ways around bureaucracy and saved these children. https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-rescue
#29
TIL English words of Hindi or Urdu origin include bandana, bangle, bungalow, cheetah, cushy, dinghy, juggernaut, jungle, khaki, loot, punch (the drink), pundit, pyjamas, shampoo, thug, and typhoon
Mohammad Ammar 3 years ago
Wow I thought we took all those words from English! I did recently learn however that khaki comes from the Urdu word khaak, meaning dust or earth. But what's up with cheetah, we don't even have them here. We call leopards cheetah lol.
Tiny Dynamine 3 years ago
It is our tradition to take things from other cultures, not give things back.
Load More Replies...
ChimeraBubbles 3 years ago
"We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James Nicoll (often misattributed to Terry Pratchett)
NsG 3 years ago
If you've ever heard someone British say "let's have a shufti at this", meaning "let's have a look", it's Arabic. We took, and continue to take words from all over the world. (I'm not sure, but I believe a lot of the words we incorporate come from military settlements learning local words and bringing them home)
Vorknkx 3 years ago
I've always associated the word "thug" with lasso-wielding cultists that worship Kali-Ma.
Marcellus II 3 years ago
Yes? A hindu sect, belongs here with so many others. "Big Cheese" and so on, English colonial words.
Load More Replies... Mazer 3 years ago
I love learning where words originated snd their original uses and how they evolved through time
Donkey boi 3 years ago
I knew about pyjamas because I learned that when I found out the word 'mufti' was Arabic.
karl briggs 3 years ago
Fun fact, I learnt that in Italy they also say Pizza, Spaghetti and Pasta just like we do in the UK.
#30
TIL Uday Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein, was named Chairmain of the Iraqi Olympic Committee in 1984. Athletes who disappointed him were subject to torture and imprisonment
Fritz Baumeister 3 years ago
US Special Forces smoked his a** with TOW missiles. Got his brother Qusay too. He was almost as bad.
Monkey Spunk 3 years ago
Let's not forgot that the UK and US installed him as a puppet dictator.
Lollipop Girl 3 years ago
Hey, don't insult pigs! He's just an evil, evil person
Load More Replies...
Rachael Sampson 3 years ago
He also had a "hobby" of kidnapping and raping young girls and women and then paying them afterwards as if they were prostitutes. He was so f*****g disgusting.
LeighAnne Brown-Pedersen 3 years ago
Urban legend when I was in the Army at COB Speicher (at the Iraqi Air Force academy) the stadium where we did PT was where the entire Iraq soccer team was shot for disappointing this guy.
#31
TIL the movie Gremlins was so intense that it was responsible for the movie rating of PG-13.
Marnie 3 years ago
I remember seeing this for the first time in a non-chain movie theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. People were super reactive during the move, it was great. Sounds of cringing, yelps, oh-my-goshes, etc. At one point, the Mom is in the kitchen and hears scary noises upstairs. We all know what that means. The scary thing comes down and attacks the Mom while she cowers in fright. So, we were all so surprised when she looked up at the ceiling, then at the knife block, then PICKED UP THE KNIFE. And headed UPSTAIRS. The entire theater erupted with encouraging sounds and "Yes!" and the like. It was so awesome. First time I ever saw a woman plan to fight back in a movie in my life. I will never forget it. Best in-theater movie experience of my life.
Locked In The Cellar 3 years ago
In the first version of the script, mom didn't survive the incident, and ended up with her head rolling down the stairs!! This was eventually changed as it was considered too dark.
Load More Replies... Rick 3 years ago
Actually, it was two movies: Gremlins and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom
Mazer 3 years ago
The movie rating system… heavy sigh. Learn about the history of movies, it’s an eyebrow raiser
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
On several different occasions I have read that PG-13 was inevitable. All Spielberg did was hasten the inevitable. There are quite a few PG films, some of which were released before Spielberg was a household name, that pushed the boundaries. "Wizards," for example, has nudity and bloody violence.
Load More Replies...
Nicola Roberts 3 years ago
I'm still traumatised by the blender scene, and I'm a middle aged woman!
Bonniebluebutler 3 years ago
I can't deal with the exploding gremlin in the microwave. Def deserved a PG13 rating
Load More Replies...
Faith Donovan 3 years ago
My husband had to watch that movie in school when he was 6 (the teacher just saw a cute fuzzy creature on the cover and didn't pay further attention. 34 years later, he still refuses to ever even consider watching it again
Celtic Pirate Queen 3 years ago
I always thought it was "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", but apparently it was "Red Dawn" (try Googling the information before you post, people)
kews 3 years ago
Red Dawn was the first PG-13 movie, but the rating was first considered, and then created, because of Temple of Doom and Gremlins, which came out in the three months prior to Red Dawn.
Load More Replies...
#32
TIL The mongols had a superstition that said that spilling royal blood would lead to great disaster. So instead they had other creative ways of executing such people. Including sewing up your orifices, drown you in molten metal or have horses trample you.
May 3 years ago (edited)
So would sewing up the orifices. These methods make no sense, when it's so much easier to drown, suffocate or (definitely in Mongolia) freeze them.
Load More Replies...
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
The Mongols were the inspiration for the Dothraki, so yes.
Load More Replies... 
Sofie 3 years ago
Did you suddenly clench at least one of those orfices? 🤣
Load More Replies... Hannah Edwards 3 years ago
Normal drowning would be a lot less bloody than any of those options.
Immortal Emperor Paradox 3 years ago
You're just a mortal as long as you haven't shouldered the Heaven's Will.
Kurt Ramsey 3 years ago
It was having royal blood spilt on the earth/sunlight. When they sacked Baghdad in 1248/58 the Mongols rolled up the royals in the massive rugs and had the horses trample the rugs.
Agnes Jekyll 3 years ago
Crown Prince Sado--(from present-day Korea, not Mongolia-but this story made me wonder if there were a similar kind of thought? Maybe execution was seen as too "common" or violent?)---his father executed him by locking him into a rice chest
#33
TIL that a modern highway now runs through the site of the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans held back a massive Persian army for three days. A statue of the Spartan leader, Leonidas, stands just a few feet from the road.
King Kashue 3 years ago
Also, the coastline - which played such a major part in the battle (helping to create the chokepoint that allowed the Greek force - which was 7000 from multiple Poleis, not just 300 from Sparta - to hold off the much larger Persian force) has also moved over the past 2500 years. It's now almost 6 miles from it's ancient location.
Vicky Z 3 years ago
That's true and also there are still there the hot springs that gave the name to the place (thermo means hot in Greek and the literal translation is hot gates). Along with the statue of Leonidas there is also part of the wall that was there during the battle
Load More Replies... 
Guy MacGregor 3 years ago
Well I challenge you to build a road without finding an archeological or historical site in Greece or Italy (Also apply to most of Europe. France also have mandatory Archeological searches before starting constructions in some areas)
Vicky Z 3 years ago
That's definitely a challenge! I live in Greece and we struggle to build a subway in my city cause it's full of archeological finds underground!
Load More Replies... Mazer 3 years ago
Apparently it is getting hard not to hit an ancient battle site, seems humans will never learn to live in peace
Belandriel 3 years ago (edited)
And this alone is reason enough to support the European Union!
Load More Replies... Sasha 3 years ago
Only 300 spartans. And several thousand other men. Honestly that movie is comical, and does sorta address this (i brought more soldiers than you) but its kinda like how now Americans seem to think the US single handedly won ww2, not, you know, russia who decimated german armies on the eastern front (and went through some real bad s**t, look up the seige of Leningrad for some real disturbing s**t) and Britain who basically fought the first part of the war single handedly, and then had to wipe Americas bottom when they did enter the war, because Americans refused to listen to them even though the British had been fighting the germans for several years and were experienced, and the Americans were newbies to the conflict and made a lot of dumb mistakes
Donkey boi 3 years ago
It started out at around 7,000 -7,100 men from the surrounding states. On the morning of the third day they learned that the Persians had a column circling their position. They wanted to retreat, Leonidas said they could go if they wished but he was staying because he had promised to hold the pass for as long as possible. The remaining army consisted of around 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, possibly up to 900 helots (Spartan serfs), and 1,000 Phocians stationed above the pass. They all knew they would die. While this story is more famous, very few know about the naval battle that was happening at the same time which has some of the best cunning, subterfuge, misinformation, psychological exploitation of the enemy in history (IMO), The Battle of Artemisium.
Alex K 3 years ago
a lot of the battles of Greeks against the persians had tricks hidden within which gave them the win. the battle of thermopylae had that bottleneck, the battle of salamis forced the big and hard to manouvre persian ships into shallow waters, etc etc.
Load More Replies...
Candybalism 3 years ago (edited)
The monument marking the battle is a few km's off the highway, but who can say EXACTLY where it took place. Cool country and site to visit.
Axolotl King 3 years ago
This is not the same thing but it reminded me of this: look up the Sacred Band of Thebes. Really cool story
Axolotl King 3 years ago
Guess I should say this: I don't mean story as in "it's not real", I just mean it was cool
Load More Replies... Grumble O'Pug 3 years ago
There was a photo in my Greek History book. Kind of an underwhelming statue
#34
TIL of Adolf Hitler’s Madagascar Plan. The plan was to relocate all the Jews to Madagascar. This idea later was shelved in favor for the mass genocide of the population.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
And his followers today who are still among us... manure, the lot of 'em, IMO
Load More Replies... Belandriel 3 years ago (edited)
Just think about it... when it became forseeable that Germany was going down, instead of making the jews work in order to produce more weapons, Hitler ordered to accelerate the destruction of them!!! That's how evil the Nazis were. It is mindblowing for a "normal" human being (credits for this "enlightening" thought goes to Jordan Peterson btw).
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
Not just evil, but stupid. STOOPID. The logistics of Shoah siphoned resources away from the war effort.
Load More Replies...
Valley Girl 3 years ago
I'm sure that if this Madagascar plan went in to effect, boats would have sank soon after leaving the harbor. There was no way he sat and decided between attempting to wipe out an entire race or sending them to a lemur themed vacay.
Łukasz Markuszewski 3 years ago
Fun fact: this was originally an idea of Theodor Herzl, The Father of Zionism
Mickie Shea 3 years ago
Cheaper to shoot them, then port them to a far away island, which would have been better flor all concerned or not.
Axolotl King 3 years ago
At first, Hitler just wanted all of the Jews out of Germany, then when that didn't work he forced them into ghettos, and when they still didn't die is when most of the got sent to concentration camps with the other people who were already there
Robin Roper 3 years ago
The term "extermination" was first used in eugenics writing in the US. US industrialists who were huge eugenicists sent money to the Kiser Wilhelm Institute in Germany to support the work done there. Many prominent wealthy and well educated US "dignitaries" would have been perfectly happy to keep a large percentage of the US population from procreating - even being poor was considered enough of a reason for sterilization.
Sylvanticx 3 years ago
who is downvoting Chimmels? i'm gonna be downvoted for saying this but Israel has aa right to exist in Israel as a Jewish state. i don't agree with Israel's policies necessarily, but Israel has as much a right to exist as the US, even more so because Jews are an indiginous people of Israel.
#35
TIL that a middle school football coach in Oregon was fired for trying to take his team to Hooters to celebrate the end of the season.
Stephen Lyford 3 years ago
Why idiot? Hooters isn't a strip club. I've seen countless families at Hooters over the years.
Load More Replies...
Serial pacifist 3 years ago
Yep, not an educational trip to see the owls that can't move their eyes.
Aliquid 3 years ago
Well yeah... people without power don't have any to abuse.
Load More Replies... Valley Girl 3 years ago
It may NOT be a strip joint, but I really don't need to have my server's bare cheeks brush across my table as I eat. More power to any man or woman who does, but don't take other people's kids.
Tuna Fish 3 years ago
What's wrong with hooters? I've been there with my son and niece before. The ladies were super nice an the wings were good.
Robin DJW 3 years ago
I was waitress to one of these team dinners. I took care of all 20 of them while trying to dodge grabs, trying to ignore sexual invitations and banter, and the like. The coaches did nothing. My manager lit into them like a lightening storm, and they left subdued and shamefaced. I was shaking for the rest of the shift. RIP Mr. Albert, you were the very best.
Hannah Edwards 3 years ago
How is this place still going? I overheard my daughter and her friends talking about Hooters. One had been told that there were owls there. Then they decided that there should be a similar place with men, which would be called Peckers (because they’d have pecks.)
GoddessOdd 3 years ago (edited)
That is an excellent idea! Peckers, where women get to choose the uniforms. I read an article in my local paper about Hooters sending new uniforms out... basically butt crack underwear with a tank top. The staff was refusing to wear them, and eventually management caved... but they were still requiring the already humiliating short shorts.
Load More Replies... karl briggs 3 years ago
And he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids!
#36
TIL: Archaeologist Alexander Peev was executed by firing squad in 1943 on suspicion of sending a coded message to the Soviet Union. It was actually an ancient inscription he wanted Russian archaeologists to help him interpret. The text remains undeciphered.
May 3 years ago
TIL: Bulgaria was on the side of the Nazis. Makes me realize that there's a whole section of Eastern Europe that I don't know what happened in WWII
Vorknkx 3 years ago
Indeed, allies with the Nazis until the communist takeover of September 9, 1944. Then we switched sides and fought against the Nazis... and after the war we had to endure 45 years of communist dictatorship. Not a very nice thing, as you can imagine.
Load More Replies... Caro Caro 3 years ago (edited)
Alexander Peev was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and was executed by the fascist Bulgarian Authorities in Sofia, on November 22nd, 1943. He was a renowned revolutionary resistance leader, and an amateur archaeologist (who pioneered research into the Sitovo inscriptions). Bulgaria was one of a number of Eastern European countries that openly collaborated with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany, and avidly participated in the application of Nazi racial and sexual purity laws. https://thesanghakommune.org/2017/02/26/alexander-peev-1886-1943-and-the-ancient-sitovo-script/
Load More Replies... Hugh Willie Mungous 3 years ago
How can we be sure it wasn't a coded message if it has never been deciphered?
#37
TIL that showman P.T. Barnum got his start by purchasing an enslaved woman named Joice Heth. She was in her 70’s but he claimed she was 161 years old and had been the nanny of George Washington. He exhibited her until her death, and then allowed the public to view her autopsy for 50 cents each
Rick 3 years ago
He can’t have been - he is directly responsible for that atrocious film and those annoying songs that dominated the radio that year
Load More Replies...
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 3 years ago
And after the doctor who performed the autopsy declared that she was not really that old, Barnum backed down claiming that the body was not really Joice's, but a look alike... and people believed that.
Vorknkx 3 years ago
Well, people back in those days could also believe that someone found golden plates with holy text, and then translated them inside a hat :D
Load More Replies...
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
Coming from the guy that said "There's a sucker born every minute" there shouldn't be much surprise here.... Anybody wanna buy a fiji mermaid?
#38
TIL that even though Edward Bannister won 1st prize for painting at the 1876 Philadelphia centennial international exhibition, after discovering Bannister’s identity, the judge wanted to rescind his award because he was black. However this wasn’t possible due to protests from the other competitors.
Final score:
40points
sirfryingpan 3 years ago
so the losers wanted the winner to keep first prize even though he was black? that's some good sportsmanship!
DC 3 years ago
And rightly so! Actually, if I see how much racism still is in practice not that long ago - like, now -, yet it has been removed from and even actively counteracted by the law (in the US), I wanna puke. Not even anywhere special, just puke - makes me sick. It's so ridiculously stupid, but the things done motivated by it are true and real atrocities ... and, although you cannot display being a racist that open anymore, although much is prohibited, although there is effective and enforcable law.
#39
TIL the oldest evidence of humans in the Americas was found less than four months ago, and was several thousands of years older than previously thought
Caro Caro 3 years ago
Analysis of ancient fossilized human footprints in New Mexico has pushed the date back once again — to at least 21,000 years ago. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/24/1040381802/ancient-footprints-new-mexico-white-sands-humans?t=1642668223916
Auntriarch 3 years ago
One of the most fun things about new discoveries of ancient humans is hearing the backpedaling of experts whose opinions were based in prejudice.
#40
TIL the Russian Soyuz series of spacecraft has been in continual use with the same basic design for 55 years and 140 flights. It is widely considered the world's safest, most cost-effective human spaceflight vehicle. At least one is always docked at the ISS at all times for use as an escape craft.
Myumun myumunov 3 years ago
Cheapest - only because they charge less, because It is also the least efficient. At the time of construction they didn't have the technology to fine process titanium, so every time the rockets carry hundreds of kg more than needed. When asked in the 90s, russians were ashamed to admit and said it was in preparation of mars missions for radiation shielding.
Adam Jeff 3 years ago
They charge less - yes, that is the definition of cheapest.
Load More Replies...
#41
TIL of the Sony rootkit scandal: In 2005, Sony shipped 22,000,000 CDs which, when inserted into a Windows computer, installed unn-removable and highly invasive malware. The software hid from the user, prevented all CDs from being copied, and sent listening history to Sony.
King Kashue 3 years ago
They became only the 98th largest corporation in the world by market cap. It's very sad how they've suffered.
Load More Replies...
ZAPanda 3 years ago
Ps I don't know if this affected the cd in every country. I would have to check that. I think it was the album mechanical animals.
Load More Replies...
#42
TIL of a Danish Bog Army. Hundreds of 2000-year old warrior skeletons have resurfaced from a bog, suggesting a violet event occurred nearby.
Marcellus II 3 years ago
If ultraviolet killed them, they must have been vampires...
Load More Replies... May 3 years ago
That was long before we started writing thing down, so we'll never know what happened
King Kashue 3 years ago
That was before northern Europeans were writing things down - humans invented writing a long time before that. 2000 years ago is the end of the Roman Republic/beginning of the Empire - the Romans had been writing for 500 years by that point, the Greeks for 800 to 1500, depending on whether you want to consider Linear B and A to be Greek or Mycenean/Minoan. The Sumerians invented Cuneiform about 5000 years ago, the Egyptians invented Hieroglyphics not too longer after that and Hieratic a few centuries after that.
Load More Replies...
#43
TIL about the diabolical ironclad beetle (Nosoderma diabolicum), a species of beetle which has one of the toughest exoskeletons of all insects, which lets it endure forces up to 39,000 times its body weight and makes it impossible to put a insect pin through without drilling a hole first
IlovemydogShilo 3 years ago
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2006507/scientists-find-secret-of-uncrushable-beetles-strength
Bernadette Circle 3 years ago
A pin to mount the specimen to a display board
Load More Replies... Bacony Cakes 3 years ago
Translation from Oz: Man's immune to flip-flops, blud.
Load More Replies... #44
TIL in the middle ages mainly blind people were hired as treadwheel operators on construction sites, as they would not be scared from the sheer drop sight below them. It is also considered one of the worst jobs in history, as the wheels often broke.
Luther von Wolfen 3 years ago
In Edo-period Japan, only blind people were allowed to perform massage professionally. This ensured that sighted people would not take a job which could be done by a blind person.
AnnaBanana 3 years ago
That's what amazed me about Japan when I was there a couple of years ago. Everybody had a job and took such great pride in doing it well. From the old guys in train stations with their dustbusters, to the ladies carefully trimming the moss in the royal gardens. I wish my country was like that, giving older people a purpose and a reason to get up in the morning is such a wonderful thing.
Load More Replies...
Kirsten Kerkhof 3 years ago
People have been exploiting the vulnerable members of society since, well, forever ...
Bob D. Lin Quint 3 years ago
Imagine falling and not even knowing how far the drop is. Imagine
#45
TIL George Patton led a sabers-drawn charge against U.S. WWI veterans and their families who were seeking promised bonuses, known as the “Bonus Army”.
Mazer 3 years ago
And yet here we still are, not helping veterans live their best lives after service. Oh yeah and MORE ABUSE OF POWER!!!
Grumble O'Pug 3 years ago
Now they want to charge soldiers for costs associated with base housing
Load More Replies... Luther von Wolfen 3 years ago
There were tanks as well. About 43,000 people - WWI veterans and their families, were routed and their camps burned. The veterans were eventually paid their bonuses.
Elwood Schwartz 3 years ago
Well, they wanted those bonuses paid out over a decade early was the problem...
Dave In MD 3 years ago
Don't forget the POS Douglas "dugout doug" MacArthur was in overall command.
Hugh Willie Mungous 3 years ago
Should have employed the German excuse . . . . . "we were only following orders".
#46
TIL Guy Fieri invites Make-A-Wish families to every taping of 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives'
Otter 3 years ago
I don't believe that that many Make-A-Wish families want to be on his TV show.
Fat Harry 3 years ago
He invites them to the filming, not to be on the show.
Load More Replies... 
#47
TIL that the Indonesian Army nearly conducted an amphibious landing in Somalia in order to free the crew of an Indonesian cargo ship captured by pirates. The plan was never executed because the pirates were all killed by Indonesian Special Forces and the hostages freed before they made it to shore.
#48
TIL : Kanye West's mother, Donda, has a law named after her known as 'Donda West law' that requires patients to have a physical examination before cosmetic surgery. Donda West unfortunately passed away from heart problems one day after her surgery.
Mazer 3 years ago
Even basic physicals can’t catch everything. My friend had cosmetic surgery on his eyes and died a horrible death suffering from an undiagnosed weird blood disorder. * RIP Bob.
Cold Contagious 3 years ago
I'm so sorry, that sounds like a horrible experience for everyone involved.
Load More Replies... #49
TIL there's an 18% average mortality rate for catch and release fishing with the rate varying significantly between species
May 3 years ago
Catch and release never made sense to me. I'm fine with fishing, so long as it's for food. Catch and release is just torturing the fish for fun.
Fat Harry 3 years ago
Absolutely. It's not a "sport" when one of the two sides doesn't know it's playing and lacks the equipment of the other side. It's kind of like why I think fox hunting should be legal as long as we're allowed to take pot shots at the hunters while they hunt.
Load More Replies... Jo Choto 3 years ago
If you are going to kill an animal, you need to do it for food. Any other "sport" that is for trophies or photos or showing off is barbaric. Even fish have been shown to experience a sharp rise in cortisol and signs of stress and anxiety after being caught, even if they are released. Don't kid yourself that a spike of metal through your face and being pulled into an environment where you can't breathe is any less unpleasant for a fish than it would be for you.
#50
TIL Elton John stiffed the Pinball Hall of Fame after filming a video there in 2004. Owner Tim Arnold didn't receive the promised $500 and concert tickets, and maintains an open challenge to wrestle Sir Elton.
#51
TIL Middle aged men with resting heart rates of 80 beats or higher per minute are likely to die four to five years earlier than men with resting heart rates of 65 beats per minute or less.
DC 3 years ago
I do close to no sports (I use my bicycle in my hometown for transportation ... but as I work elsewhere and am off Mo to Fr, ... not much), have a desk job where, at maximum, I gotta go to the other building to get things clear with manufactoring if there are any questions, and just hang out at my hostel then and play guitar, and would not waste time on any other hobbies, or cooking, or sports, if I haven't at least one hour of playing in, and even if I'd just play Iron Man ten times straight (doing this initially helped me learn the song, though...) or some timing, speed, etc practices, I don't even consider doing any else. But, my resting heart rate is somewhere in the low sixties. Smoking also is a habit of mine, I wouldn't exactly call this a suicidal lifestyle, but one aiming at 100 years of age, certainly, as well, this is not.
Load More Replies... DogMom 3 years ago
I wonder if this applies to women too. I’ve always had a resting rate around 80 despite always being physically active and in good health
Head Mills 3 years ago
It isn't that cut and dry, don't worry. I've a resting heart rate of 60 and most definitely am not a specimen of health.. I've a BMI of 32 and do no regular exercise.. 80 is still definitely in a "safe" range anyway.
Load More Replies...
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
To live to 80, keep it under 80, according to my mother's cardiologist. Who thought Mom woudl be dead four years ago, so.... take that as you will.
Mazer 3 years ago (edited)
with consideration. My friend was raised in the Swiss Alps region. She is a tiny powerhouse of health. Riding her bike up the steep roads she got good enough and strong enough that she was witnessed passing trucks going uphill (not hard to believe with older combustion engines that slow with the reduction in oxygen to the engines). Unfortunately this enlarged her heart which required her to exercise everyday without failure throughout her adult life. Currently being elderly, she can no longer exercise her issues away fortunately she has a great cardiologist. Moderation in all things
#52
TIL the Golden Age of Piracy, between 1650s & 1730s happened because of: more valuable cargo being shipped over vast ocean areas; reduced European navies; & corrupt officials in overseas colonies.
François Carré 3 years ago
And some decades later, the first foreign war the USA had to wage right after their independence was still against pirates based in Libya. As their commercial ships in the Mediterranean sea were no longer under protection of the British Navy, they were easy prey.
Hugh Willie Mungous 3 years ago
Many were privateers . . . . . authorised by England to plunder the Spanish. However, before we judge them too harshly we should consider the fact that the ships they were plundering contained the stolen riches of South America. The pirates and privateers were no worse than their "victims" . . . . . in fact they were probably much better as they hadn't killed off, by accident (disease) or design (outright genocide) a very large portion of the indigenous population.
Oopsydaisy 3 years ago
And did you also learn that pirates were mostly contracted by governments (well, royal families anyway) to undertake their piracy?
#53
Cheetahs don't have retractable claws like other cats. Their claws, much like a dog's, are needed for traction when chasing down prey.
Final score:
18points
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
Cheetahs are amazing. Although they are a cat that is big, they are not technically a Big Cat. They purr and don't roar which is the difference between Big Cats and all other cats. Also, they chirp like birds. It is crazy when you hear it. Sadly they are heading towards extinction because they lack almost any genetic diversity along with the thinning of the population presented by human encroachment. The survival rate of their cubs in the wild is abysmally low. The father cheetah ditches immediately and the mother is left alone to raise 3-5 cubs on her own. And they're not terribly effective hunters. Even when they do kill, they then have to deal with other predators taking their kill. When raised in captivity, they are usually paired with a lab dog because cheetahs are shy and their dog friend is a trusted companion.
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
And if you had an 8 year old obsessed with cheetahs you too can learn more. We LOVE cheetahs. It's going to be a sad day when my daughter outgrows loving them.
Load More Replies... #54
TIL that Teslas provide a lot of environmental damage because of the factories they were made in.
Final score:
17points
François Carré 3 years ago
Say it louder please. Electric cars are not a sustainable solution anyway. Only manufacturing and using less cars in general could help a bit.
Chonk Society (Submission author) 3 years ago
TIL THAT TESLAS PROVIDE A LOT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE BECAUSE OF THE FACTORIES THEY WERE MADE IN
Load More Replies... DC 3 years ago
Well ... we could have a transition towards green transportation including very different types of machinery, and have to deal with 300 million ICE-driven vehicles in the EU alone that won't be discarded just because they're not electric (which would be, ecological, a catastrophe because all the energy and material that went into making them), we do need something to reduce the CO2 per Joule in combustion engines as well. As of today, providing something truly renewable and reliable in this field might prove to be of little symbolic values, but the most useful and fastest in relevance to counter climate change. My bike running on E85 ... well, bikes and E85 is a match made in heaven, mayb not appliable on every vehicle, but ... it was great - I sure lost some hp when the ethanol gas station nearby closed and I readapted it to RON 98 instead of RON 108 or whatever it had (it was well above 100 for sure). Anyway, if I'd buy an electric car, certainly, it would not be a Tesla. They suck.
Chonk Society (Submission author) 3 years ago
Teslas are "environmental impostors"
Load More Replies... #55
Since ancient times, "sages'" or "saints" in India have been able to go into a hibernation-like state where they go into deep meditation and don't move for not only hours, but days. No food, no water, no movement at all. The science behind it hasn't been deciphered yet beyond calling it some kind of hibernation.
Final score:
8points
H Edwards 3 years ago
I have no proof, but I believe that it is possible to put your body into a kind of suspended animation, with a greatly lowered heart rate, and stay still without food or water for much longer than the average human. However, a lot of the claims that are made about how long these states can be maintained are vastly exaggerated.
Load More Replies...
Artsy Bookworm 3 years ago
As a person from India, I can say that though we have heard stories, they are mostly mythological and do not have actual evidence. At least none to my knowledge m the concept of meditating for years is popular in myths where people do so to please gods and receive boons.
#56
TIL there is a town in Oregon called "Boring." There are actually two other places in the US called "Boring." Lol.
Final score:
5points
Chonk Society 3 years ago
Yes I used to live in portland and going to the beach sometimes we crossed through Boring
Grumble O'Pug 3 years ago
What beach? Boring is SE of Portland. I’ve been through it on the way back from Bend/Madras
Load More Replies...
#57
TIL in the mid 1890s, Mary Whiton Caulkins completed all requirements towards a PhD in Psychology, but Harvard University refused to award her that degree because she was a woman.
What do you think ?
Hanni 3 years ago
Agreed, there are way too many stories about people being insufferable idiots. We come here to relax, not to decide who is to blame in a bad story.
Load More Replies... Troux 3 years ago (edited)
For at least 2000 years, Polynesian sea-based people of the modern Marshall Islands navigated the vast expanse of sea using rebbelib, or stick charts. Tiny seashells represented the island locations, but most unique about these maps was that the ocean swells or currents provided the main navigation, as were drawn by the sticks of the framework. The maps were memorized before the journey, and the people in the canoes would have to listen closely to the water against the boat in order to "feel" the swell and determine where they were. gallery-14...-chart.jpg 
Immortal Emperor Paradox 3 years ago
Does that also include making more than $12,000 a month online? LOL
Load More Replies...
Stephanie Chapman 3 years ago
The first escalator was introduced as a novelty ride at Coney Island in 1896. In 1898 one was installed in Harrod's department store. Smelling salts and cognac were offered at the top for those traumatized by the ride. In 1911 an escalator was installed in the London Underground subway. A one-legged man named Bumper Harris was employed to ride the escalator to show everyone it was safe to ride.
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Who say you can't be home schooled by computer - I learn so much and probably ask a bunch of stupid questions! But I usually can find the answers in my computer. I think if I was educated by computer I would not be as dumb as I am!
Joanna Werman 3 years ago
Wish some of these facts would come with a warning. I have new nightmares
Hanni 3 years ago
Agreed, there are way too many stories about people being insufferable idiots. We come here to relax, not to decide who is to blame in a bad story.
Load More Replies... Troux 3 years ago (edited)
For at least 2000 years, Polynesian sea-based people of the modern Marshall Islands navigated the vast expanse of sea using rebbelib, or stick charts. Tiny seashells represented the island locations, but most unique about these maps was that the ocean swells or currents provided the main navigation, as were drawn by the sticks of the framework. The maps were memorized before the journey, and the people in the canoes would have to listen closely to the water against the boat in order to "feel" the swell and determine where they were. gallery-14...-chart.jpg
Immortal Emperor Paradox 3 years ago
Does that also include making more than $12,000 a month online? LOL
Load More Replies... Stephanie Chapman 3 years ago
The first escalator was introduced as a novelty ride at Coney Island in 1896. In 1898 one was installed in Harrod's department store. Smelling salts and cognac were offered at the top for those traumatized by the ride. In 1911 an escalator was installed in the London Underground subway. A one-legged man named Bumper Harris was employed to ride the escalator to show everyone it was safe to ride.
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Who say you can't be home schooled by computer - I learn so much and probably ask a bunch of stupid questions! But I usually can find the answers in my computer. I think if I was educated by computer I would not be as dumb as I am!
Joanna Werman 3 years ago
Wish some of these facts would come with a warning. I have new nightmares
You May Like 41 Intriguing “Today I Learned” Facts That Show How Little We Actually Know (New Facts) 60 Interesting Facts That Are Better Than Watching The News People Share 44 Facts That Completely Changed How They Think About, Well, Everything
Evelina Šiukšterytė
Ilona Baliūnaitė
Gabija Palšytė
Related on Bored Panda
